Loose reed for looms



NOV. 28, 1933. E, R. HQLMES 1,937,407

LOOSE REED FOR LOOMS Filed Dec. 9, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. 1

i, 3Q /35 34o R5 fv l/E/v TUR LBR/DGf/PHUL M55 *f YM A PUPA/v5 E. R. HCLMES LOOSE REED FOR LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. .28,4 1933.

Filed DeC. Q. 1930 nso i .STATES PATENT oFFlcs 1,937,407 LOOSE REED FOR LooMs Elbridge R. Holmes, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Werks, Worcester Mass., a corlmration` of Massachusetts Application Dewinter e, 1930. serial No. V501,095'

2 Claims.

Ihis invention relates to improvementsin loose reeds for lo`oms and it is the general object of the invention to provide an'improved and simplied mechanism for easing the'pressure of the 5- ireed atthe time of beating up. l,

In the weaving of certain classes of' goodsv it is desirable toy permit-the reed to have a limited freedom of motionwith respect to the lay so as to accommodate itself to the picks as they are beaten into the cloth. During the backward stroke of the lay the reed must'be rigid relatively v to thelay to support the shuttle which is in flight at thisv time; It is a urtherobject of my invention to provide relatively strong but resilient j means for holding the reed substantially rigid with respect to the lay during the time that the.

latter is in the rear part of its motion, but to nullify the eiect of this resilient devicea's'the lay approaches beating-up position, so that the reed fmaybe free to give alight beatto the lling if necessary. In order that there may be proper operation of the reed the latter'is acted on permanently; by light springswhichA can yield at the time of: beat-up andwhich normally actV in the s lsame direction asthe previously mentioned rela-l tively strong resilientmember so asto assist the latter in holding the reed-xed with lay at the time specified.

Ity is another object ,of my. invention yto :employ l f thefforwardI movement,v of ythe lay to Yact, uponya part which in turn lwill overpower the relatively heavy resilient device. referred to, the time'of op-'l respect to the erationv being variable to suit the,` desires: of the user. l

It is a still further o action of the heavy resilientcelement as the lay' bjectY of-*myy invention to provide a lever pivotedon the crankppin of the lay'and acted-uponby a iiXedstopto arrest the moves forwardly,` the lay` itself beingdriven V through the pivotal connection of the leverpby socalled shock absorbing crank connectors.

AIt is another object of the invention to ovel4` power theheavy'resilient device byapforce de-V appear as the description-proceeds, y my invention resides in the combination Yand arrangement of parts hereinafter. describ claims.

In this way the time ed and set forth-in the theflower part of the` loom' frame.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of my inventionis set forth,

. Fig. 1 is a central vertical section through a loomV taken transverselyof the lay and showing my invention applied to one end of the lay with the latter in forward positionand the reed loose,

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig.` 1 but `with the lay in rearward position and with the heavy resilient device operative tov position the reed,

Fig. 3 Vis a detail rear elevation-taken in the direction of arrow 3, Fig. 1, showing the parts on an enlarged scale,

Fig. i is a detail horizontal section on line 4'-4 ofFig. l, and K y Fig. is a horizontal section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3 but taken on an enlarged scale. v

Referring tothe drawings, I have shown a loom frame 1,0 Yhaving a crank shaft 11 withar crank arm 12 operably attached to a connector designated generally at 13. The lattercoinprises a pair of rods 14, each surrounded by a compression spring 15 which are stopped at their' forward ends by means of nuts 16. The cross head 1'7 of the' connector to which the rods 14 are attached has a forwardly extending arm 18 pivotally connected to the lay; The connector except for the particular .way in which it is attached to the lay may be substantially the same as that shownin 4patent to Hillman No. 1,323,391 and of itself. forms no part of my present invention.

The` lay beam 20 is supportedon swords 21, one of which is set forth in the drawings, each sword being, mounted on arocker pin 22 supported'at Each sword hasgat'the upper endthereof a casting 23 pro'- vided with rearwardly extending ears 24 asshown in Figs. 3 and 4, said ears to be connected to the connectors ina mannerto be set forth herein after. Associated with each lay swordY 21y is a spring carrier 25supported on the corresponding `rocker pin and formed as shown particularly in Fig. 5 witha'hook 25 to extend around the front part of the sword and having a rear arm 27 bent as at 28 to lie behind'a largestii spring 29. A screw 30 fastened through the bend 28 engages the spring 29 to vary'` the tension thereof. The

lower `end of the spring may be mounted as desighated generally at 31'.The.upper end of the spring mayV be curved as at 32 and be positioned to engage the lower rail 33 of' a `reed structure pivotally mounted by means of pins 34 one of which is shown in Fig. r3. The pins are received byV extensions 35V projecting upwardly frornthe lay. Comparatively light spring elements 36 may be operatively interposed between the rail 33 and fand `being threaded to receive a nut 43.

i screw 55 against the casting 23.

the lay so as to permit a relative separation of these two parts under comparatively light pressure.

The matter thus far described is of common Construction and has been employed ior some time on certain types of looms, such as 'those weaving silk. The yielding devices designated generally at have not always been associated with spring 29 but they or their equivalents have been employed to provide yielding means. n the prior practice it has been customary to have the upper end of the spring 29 bear directly against the rail 33 at all times, but it has been found desirable to alter this practice so `as to permit a lighter beat of the reed against the lling.

In carrying my invention into effect provide a construction wherein the spring 29 is over-- powered as the lay reaches the forward part of its stroke by mechanism which is preferably though not necessarily mounted on the part which establishes pivotal connection between the connector 18 ancL the ears 24. Accordingly, l provide for each connector a pin or stud 4G which passes through the ears 24 and the forward end of the connector 18. L'ach connector andspring 29 may have associated therewith a structure about to be described and to facilitate an understanding ofy the invention' I will describe but one of the mechanisms, although it is to be understood that -each lay sword of the loom may be so equipped.

The stud 40 has a relatively large portion 4i which extends through one of the ears 24 as shown in Fig. 4, the left end of the stud being reduced as at 42 to pass through the other ear That part of the stud which extends beyond the threaded portion is still further reduced as at The right and left hand ends of the stud have pivoted thereto, respectively, arms 45 and 46, said arms being connected together by a crossl bar 4'? and in effect forming with the latter a yoke. A leg l48 depending from the bar 4'? is positioned for engagement with a stud 49 constituting a normally fixed but adjustable stop, said stop being held in adjusted front and back position by means of a nut 50 clamping it toa small stand 5l held in position by a bolt 52. The stand 5l has a horizontal slot 53 through which the stud 49 passes and it by reason of the adjustment' in the position of the stud-afforded by the slot that the time of Vengagement .betw len the leg 48 and the stud 49 be varied.

There is extending laterally from the bar 47 a ringer 54 `which as shown in Fig. 3 extends inwardly toward the center of the loom and lies in front of the upper portion of the spring 29. vAn adjustable stop screw 55 passing through thebar 47 is positioned to engage the casting 23 and therebylimit forwardV movement of the bar and leg l under action of the spring 29. Y

vIn operation, when the layis inthe position shown in Fig. 2 the leg 48 is under control or" the spring 29 by reason of the fact that the latter bears against the iinger 54 and holds the stop The screw 55 is capable of assuming several positions and is made adjustable to aiiord the user an opportunity to vary to some extent the pressure exerted by the upper end of the spring against the reed rail v33.' If the screw 55be moved forwardly its effect would be to move the ringer 54 rearwardly with the position shown in Fig( 2 the leg 48 is 'spaced from the stop stud 49.

Lesmo? As the lay continues to move forwardly the spring will maintain its contact with the rail 33 until the leg 48 engages the stud 49, at which time theyoke and leg, Which in erlect constitute a disabling lever, alter the character of their forward motion. rThe axis of this disabling lever, which is the connector pin for the lay, moves forwardly with the latter, but the lower end of the lever is of course held against further advance movement by the flzred pin 49 and the finger 54 therefore moves forwardly at a rate less than that at which the lay advances. In this way the upper end of the spring 29 is gradually moved away from the reed rail 33 and at the time of beat-up is suiciently spaced from the latter so that the reed.l is free to respond to the conditions of beating-up and may move rearwardly with respect to the lay against the action or" the light spring elements 36. As'the lay starts to move rearwardly following its beat-up the upper end of the spring 29 will approach the rail 33 and will exert its full force against said rail when the leg 48 starts to move away from the stop 49.

The disabling of the spring 29 occurs at a time when the momentum of the lay is being dissipated, or at such times as the lay approaches its momentary stop at front center. The spring 29, being acted upon by the iixed stud 49 at this time, assists in absorbing the energy of movement of the lay and there is accordingly not so much wear on the pivot pin between the connector and the lay as would otherwise occur. The adjustability of the position of the stop 49 enables the user not only to vary the time for the release of spring pressure against the rail 33, but also permits a klengthening of the time during which the spring is eiective to absorb the momentum of the lay as the latter approaches its foremost position.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2 it Will be seen that the disabling lever 48 is formed so as to` be y symmetricalabout the plane passing through the axis of the stud 40 and the center of the finger 54, the purpose of this construction being to permit the same casting to be used on both the right and left-hand sides of the loom.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple means for 'relieving the pressure on-th'e reed at the time of lay beat-up whereby the motion of the lay isfemployed to remove the pressure .of the relatively heavy spring 29. It will be noted that both the-resilient means 29 and 36 are operatively related to the rail 33 when the lay is in rearward position, but that the heavier ofthese means is disabled during the latter part of the forward stroke of the layso that the lighter means 36 only are responsible for the position of the reed with respect to the lay. Furthermore, it will beseen that the stop 49 may be varied as to position for the purpose of altering the point in the cycle of the loom at which the spring 29 is disabled. The spring 29 also acts through the fixed stop to assist in absorbing the` momentum of the lay as the latter approaches front center, thereby distributing over an appreciable length of time the dissipation of the energy of the motion of the lay to spare the connector pins of the lay excess wear. It will also be seen that the pins which form the attaching means between the connector and the lay are so formed as to afford pivotal connection for the disabling lever. Furthermore, the shock absorbingv crank connectors which yield to prevent excess strain of beating up are connected to the same pin which supports the disabling lever. i

I-Iaving thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not Wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is: Y

1. In a loom, a lay movable back and forth therein, a reed normally heldin forward position but movable rearwardly with respect to the lay, a resilient member normally holding the reed in forward position relatively to the lay, a disabling lever pivoted to the lay and having a part to bey operatively related to the resilient member, and a xed stop to engage the disabling lever, the latter engaging said stopduring forward movement of the lay and effective to move the resilient member out of controlling relation with respect to the reed during forward movement of the lay.

latter engaging said stop during forward Inove-` ment of the lay and effective to move the resilient member out of controlling relation with respect to the reed during forward movement of the lay, the resilient member normally holding the lever fixed with respect to the lay when said lever is out of engagement With the xed stop.

ELBRIDGE R. HOLMES. 

